The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of information loss in industry in a developing country. The assessment of information loss was accomplished by studying instances of information missed by scientists working in a pharmaceutical firm in the Dominican Republic and appraising the impact that this loss had on the research of the firm.Fourteen scientists working with the firm were interviewed. Ten research projects done between 1988 and 1993 were selected. Bibliographies were compiled on the topics of the research projects using databases accessible in the United States and the Dominican Republic covering information from the developed and developing countries.The study showed that all scientists missed information relevant to their research. Eighty percent of the literature retrieved in database searches was previously unknown to the scientists. Forty-one percent was relevant to their research topics and 15% of the items would have had an impact on the research if they had had them at the time the research was underway.Scientists identified potential impacts at three levels: at the user level (cognitive impacts); at the work level (changes in research); and at the firm level (effects on design and manufacturing of the drugs). The literature overlooked would have among other things increased their knowledge on the diseases and the drugs under study; it would have contributed knowledge on new laboratory techniques to diagnose diseases; it would have made possible a better and more in-depth research and better informed decision making.Access to information was associated with the information-seeking behavior of the scientists and obstacles to access to information. The study revealed that scientific research is not a national priority for development and scientists depend for access to information on their own network of information providers; their personal libraries and colleagues' resources inside or outside the country are the first choices for access to information.